Women's Ice Hockey

No. 9 Harvard Tops Brown, 4-2

Oct 30, 2010

Cambridge, Mass.– The Brown women's hockey team concluded its three-game road trip to open the 2010-11 season on Saturday afternoon at No. 9 Harvard and were topped 4-2. It was the Bears second ranked opponent in three games this season. The Crimson is 1-0-1 on the season while Brown slips to 0-3-0 on the year.

Despite several quality chances, the Crimson struggled to get the puck past freshman goalie Aubree Moore (Bowie, Md.) until 1:29 remaining in the opening period, when Harvard's Josephine Pucci was able to sneak one past the rookie netminder.

Harvard continued to control the flow of the game in the second period, amassing 16 shots on goal to Brown's two. With 9:24 remaining in the period, Harvard struck again to go up 2-0. Kaitlin Spurling found senior tri-captain Liza Ryabkina at the top of the crease and Ryabkina promptly one-timed the puck.

On an odd-man rush 58 seconds later, Gina McDonald's well-placed shot caromed off the defection from Moore's leg but Jillian Dempsey was able to find the rebound in good position and increased the advantage to three.

The Bears were able to find an answer in the closing minutes of the second period when senior Erica Kromm (Naramata, British Columbia) netted her second goal in two games on a power play with 2:57 on the clock. Sophomore Alena Polenska (Kutna Hora, Czech Republic) assisted on the play.

The Bears came out strong in the early minutes of the third period, firing several successive pucks on goal. At the 16:00 mark Polenska struck again. Freshman Samantha Woodward (Lexington, Mass.) and Laurie Jolin (Lachine, Montreal) fed Polenska for a close-range goal to close within one of the nationally ranked Crimson.

Back-to-back penalties gave Harvard a 5-on-3 advantage midway through the rid and 11 seconds into the power play Kate Buesser was able to pick up a flying puck mid-air and sent it to the back of the net to put Harvard up 4-2.

Moore finished the game with 37 saves.

Brown's next game is its home-opener at Meehan Auditorium on Nov. 6 at 1 p.m. against Sacred Heart.